


The Extractor

by Eiji_san



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Cars, Crime, F/M, Gen, Plot, Romance, Secret Agent, Secret Organization, Spy - Freeform, Syndicate, Underground, Wheelman, slight comedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:00:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23885623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eiji_san/pseuds/Eiji_san
Summary: Jun Hashima was the wheelman, a criminal with multiple track records of getaway... At least he used to. After getting behind bars, he vowed to never go back to the crime world.But a meeting with a certain ginger-haired woman and her peers threw him back again to the crime world... This time as the vigilante.Crime AUCross-posted in my Fanfiction Account as well.
Kudos: 3





	1. For My Time has Come

**THE EXTRACTOR**

**Chapter 01 : For My Time has Come**

* * *

In the dead silence of the night, with no other sound besides the ambient of the night life, a lone black car is parked on a spot where no other car can be seen besides it. With the darkness of the night, and the glossy paint of the car, it’s natural that people will miss it if they took a quick glance. That, and the fact that the glass is tinted pure black makes it even harder to determine who is it that is driving the car.

There is, however, someone inside the car. And he is waiting, as if hunting for a prey, whilst in reality…

*beep*

An alarm sound. It came from his watch. It showed the time which is 01:35 AM. After taking a quick glance at the watch and confirming it, he flicked the gear shifter of the car and drove towards the pickup point. The Man looked around to confirm that there are no one following him before driving off at speed.

The black Audi RS5 roared its engine in the middle of the night, before quickly arriving at the pickup point. The Man looked back at his watch, which shows 01:38. He smirked for a second and looked around once again. Undeniably, his driving skill is… amazing, to anyone that saw him. He waited for a few seconds before his phone rang.

He picked up the phone and was greeted by the voice of a woman.

“I take it that you’re at the pickup point?”

“Two minutes early, I would’ve bought a quick meal at McDonalds if your Guy is this late.”

“Oh, don’t worry… He’s here.”

After saying that, he noticed a man wearing a beanie hat alongside another man with a similar getup running towards his car. They immediately went for the trunk of his car and slapped it. They yelled something, but it was inaudible thanks to the car’s windows. But he is telling The Man to open up the trunk.

He reached towards the button before the woman on the phone stopped him.

“Wait, open the trunk… But don’t let them in.”

“What?”

“You heard me… Go with the package, without the guys.”

The Man hesitantly opened his trunk after the beanie men yelled at him again. He reluctantly waited for the Beanie Men to close the trunk before he floored the throttle. It was inaudible thanks to the sound of the car, but the Beanie Men yelled at him and tried to chase the car down before being left by the dust.

“Shit.”

“Good, now go to the dropoff point, You did good. I’ll make sure you get a few bonus when you get here.”

She said before hanging up the call. The Driver shrugged it off and headed towards the destination he already set up in his GPS.

A few minutes later, he reached the dropoff point. It’s a giant storage room, seems abandoned by the looks of it. He slowly drove up to the exact spot, but no one is there to meet him. He seems concerned on whether his location is wrong or not. Nevertheless, he stepped out the vehicle and looked around.

However…

“FREEZE!” A sudden voice blared from the entrance as The Driver got surrounded by multiple police vehicles. He tried to escape, but policemen also come from the opposite direction of the entrance. With no other choice left, he raised his hand. One of the policemen apprehended him and handcuffed him before pushing The Driver to the ground.

The Driver looked up and noticed a police van that opened its doors. From there, a woman appeared. He immediately noticed the woman and cursed himself.

“Of course, how could I not notice.”

The Woman looked down at him and smirked. “Did you say something?”

“No, I did not… Tsubasa.” He called her name before blacking out.

The Driver is then caught and charged for Grand Theft Auto and Robbery. And he was sentenced to five years in prison.

* * *

“Hey. Wake up.”

He jolted up awake at the call. He looked up at the caller and found his co-worker.

“Ahaha. Already tired at this hour?”

“Yeah… Just remembering some things.”

Seven years have passed and The Driver has led a new life as a package shipper for a small logistics company. It was pretty hard finding a job when you have a criminal record, but the company is pretty desperate at finding a driver that they took him. Since then, he has led a normal life far from crime and the things.

A few hours passed and his shift ended. He clocked out before being called by his co-worker. “Hey Jun. What do you say we go to a club? I heard this one has some cute chicks in it…” He teased him with a perverted grin on his face.

“Nah man, too tired for sex. Catch you tomorrow.”

“Come on man! A good sleep can wait, a good fuck however…”

They kept on bickering for a while before they said their farewell.

Jun, Jun Hashima is the name of the driver. He got back to his car and started it up. It’s no Audi that’s for sure, but it gets the job done. He opened the door to his Legacy and put all of his stuff in the passenger’s seat before sitting down on the driver’s seat.

Jun started the engine and turned on the lights before he noticed another pair of lights turning on. He looked to the left and found another car that just turned on their light, and presumably their engine as well. He paid no attention towards them and started going towards the exit. However, he looked behind and found the very same black car following him. Feeling in danger, he immediately sped up but no sudden escape as to not raise suspicion.

Jun purposedly drove to the opposite side of the Exit, and sure enough instead of going to the exit, the black car followed him. With his suspicion confirmed, Jun slammed on the gas and tried to make an escape. The engine of his Subaru roared as he headed towards the other exit. With his sudden movement, the black car also drove aggresively in hopes of catching up to its target. However, Jun’s skill in driving proved to be too much for the black car’s driver to handle as the car is clearly losing him.

While driving through the basement, he noticed another black car following him from the side. It knows that Jun is heading to the left at the next junction, so the car picked the left lane in hopes of cutting him off. Jun anticipated this and threw his car towards the left, but managed to dodge the black car, barely.

He scratched the back-left fender of his car, but his safety is top priority currently.

As soon as he reached the 2nd exit, he was immediately stopped by another two black cars. They blocked the exit before Jun managed to stop and grinded his car to a halt. His car is now facing towards the left, with two black cars on his left and another two on his right. He looked at both cars before doing a burnout.

The burnout caused smokes to engulf the exit and blinded the black cars’ vision, as he managed to escape once again, by managing to caught them off guard. He ran away and the roar of his engine echoes throughout the basement.

The black cars did not move, instead their doors open. Revealing the figures inside the cars. Each cars have two people inside them. All of them… are women.

One of the girls, the one with blue hair, dialed a call to someone.

“It’s as you said.”

_“Was he good?”_

“Admirable. How do we get him, though?”

_“Don’t worry, I got an idea.”_

With that the call ended and all of them went back inside of their cars.

* * *

Jun finally reached his home and immediately went in. Tired from the sudden getaway that he has to made. He closed the door behind him and locked it. For a while, he gasped for air before making his way towards his kitchen area.

His home is… humble. It’s not exactly a house but an apartment that has a pretty cheap rent. After all, it’s not that big, it’s small yet cozy and it gets the job done of being his personal man-cave.

He grabbed something on his refrigerator, a can of cola before closing it. Suddenly…

“Drinking that thing at night isn’t good for you, you know?”

He froze. But immediately noticed the voice and put back the soda inside. “And… how does it concern you?” He said before looking towards the source of the voice. She is a woman, in her mid-20s. She has Ginger-colored hair tied to a side ponytail, giving her a rather unique look.

She chuckled, “I just read it online, thought it might be interesting.” She said before Jun sat down in front of her.

“How did you get in here?”

“I just told the landlady that you’re my cousin and it’s all good.”

“The landlady is too senile! You lied to an old woman!”

The woman giggled. “But still… It’s nice to meet you again, Jun.”

“It has been a while, Honoka.”

Jun then grabbed a few snacks and the both of them talked for a bit while watching the Television. “Well, what brings you here?”

“Some circumstances.” She said before taking a sip of the juice that he prepared. Jun then offered her a slice of microwaved pizza before Honoka declined it. “Wow. I thought that you liked these kinds of stuff?”

“Not anymore. A lady gotta keep her figure, you know?”

“Pfft. A lady? You’re the most boyish girl that I’ve ever met!”

They both teased each other for a while, Jun reminiscing about the past while Honoka is telling him what happened after they got separated. “So, Honoka… What’s up with those black cars of yours?”

The room went silent with only the sound of the TV. Jun looked at her, while Honoka froze before grabbing the remote and shutting down the TV. “So you knew?”

“You’re easy to read, girl. Always been like that since elementary.” He smiled before taking a sip of canned juice. “… So this is what you’ve been doing after middle school?” He continued.

“College, actually. I have been trying to build an organization that has the sole purpose of shutting down a certain Underground Operation. You know about the Underground Syndicate?”

He looked at her, before looking away deep in thought. “A Group so powerful that no one even know their actual name. Also a group that doesn’t exist.”

“Actually, they do.”

“But there are no proof. You need proof to accuse someone, let alone to expose a multi-billion dollar Underground Corporate. You’re nothing more than a fanatic cultist if you don’t have anything to back their existence, girl.”

“You certainly know your stuff.”

“Thank a certain hazel-haired girl.”

“You’ve been in touch with Tsubasa?”

“More like she set me up. She has been working with the cops to catch me.”

It went silent once again, none of them talked to each other for a few moments before Honoka stood up. “Jun… You’ve been working with them, haven’t you?”

“It proofs to be useless. The pay is good, but the risk is just too high. Best-case scenario, you’ll end up in jail, worst-case, you’ll end up in the bottom of the ocean.” Jun then grabbed Honoka’s arms. “Honoka, don’t pry into their business, or you’ll end up…” He didn’t finish his sentence.

“Just… Don’t.”

“Why did you end up working with them in the first place, Jun?”

Jun froze. She hit the nail. He sighed.

“I always lived with my foster father all my life that I could remember. But my real parents… is something that I want to know myself. I ‘worked’ for them to at least get a lead at it because I know that my parents are involved with them in some ways. However, it proofs to be, again, useless as I’m not going anywhere as a wheelman. And I can’t go anywhere if I’m alone… And so Tsubasa managed to capture me. She offered me a chance to renew my life, by serving a five-year sentence, then wiping my rap sheet off, and hopefully escape the Syndicate. Since then, I just gave up, just started living as an ordinary, law-abiding, Japanese citizen.”

He sat down, sighing. “It’s pathethic, I know.”

“So that’s it? You started working a dead-end job because of surrendering?”

“… At least this dead-end job doesn’t throw me off in jail.”

Honoka then grabbed his collar. “Then join me! At least you’re not going to be just alone in this! You’re the only lead that I have in exposing the group!”

Jun looked at her eyes. It seems very nostalgic. Honoka has always been a stubborn little girl. She always tried her best to go her way, even if it seems impossible, but she always did it in the end. And those eyes are the very same eyes that showed when she had put her mind to something. And no matter what, she will do it, and no one is ever going to stop her.

 _Maybe it’ll work…_ He thought. _Maybe this time it’ll bear fruit._

“Let me think about it…”

“R-Really?!”

And when she got what she wants… she always have the brightest smile.

“But it’s not going to be easy, I’m telling you. I got my ass behind bars after all. Oh, and also, I can’t just leave my job suddenly.”

“Don’t worry, leave the paperwork to me.”

And with that, Honoka grabbed her keys and walked towards the exit with Jun accompanying her. “Then I’ll wait for the news.”

“Keep your ears open! You’re going to hear from me very soon!” She then walked towards her parked car before starting the engine.

What surprised him is the fact that Honoka is driving an Aston Martin. The DB11.

She rolled down her window and winked at him, smiling as she drove away. He swear that the girl always caught him off-guard.

...

"Nice Ass." Whether he was referring to the car or the woman, we may never know.

It was time for him to hit the sack. For the first time in a while, he’s looking forward to what tomorrow brings him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Story is actually a reboot of an old one-shot I have on my FF-net profile. I just thought that it's too edgy and decided to not continue it. However, I realized the potential of this story and decided to reboot it instead. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it! Constructive Criticism is welcomed! Look forward to the next chapters.


	2. Immediate Danger

Jun woke up roughly 15 minutes later than he usually do. The talk with his old friend made time feels too strict sometimes. Thanks to his snooze time, he has to take a bath and have his breakfast faster than usual. He quickly started up his car and drove to work while still a bit on the drowsy side.

Fortunately, there are no accidents and he reached his work without any problems on his way. Along the way, he kept checking on his messages to keep in touch for any updates from Honoka. Unfortunately, there are none yet.

He kept working like he usually do, at least until post-lunch time. As usual, he prepared for his delivery until he noticed that his bag is unusually light. He opened it and was surprised to find that it only contained one single package. Nevertheless, he ignored it and just do his job as usual.

He quickly found out that the address led to a rather desolate apartment building on the outskirts of the city central. It reminds him of the time he got caught. He shuddered at the thought and got in. He looked for the room number and found it on the top floor. He catch his breath and knocked on the door, but his knock got interrupted by the door suddenly opening.

"Ah."

The door opened to reveal the girl herself, Honoka who was waiting for him. She smiled as soon as she realized that she's looking at Jun. She is wearing a white tanktop covered by a black cardigan and blue jeans.

"Ah! I was waiting for you!"

"You're the package's owner?"

"Yup!"

She then invited him in. The apartment room is clearly taking the other neighbor room, creating a giant room that could accomodate roughly 7-9 people. It's surprisingly tidy and well-kept, different from the outside appearance of the building.

"Don't tell me you purposedly made me send it for you..."

"Well, not me, actually... but her."

Another girl appeared from the other room. She's slightly shorter than Honoka, with a short dirty-blonde hair that reached down to her neck. "N-Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you." Jun bowed down, greeting her. The fact that she stutters a bit, implied that she's a rather shy person. He noticed that the room that she came from is a room that is filled with various technologies, computers mostly. "Huh. You're a hacker?"

"I... can't really call myself a hacker... I'm just someone who is extremely good at computers."

"Sounds like a hacker to me."

Honoka suddenly grabbed the package off his hand. "Anyway! The package is here, Lily!" She jumped towards the other girl and gave the package towards her. "Lily?" Jun asked, trying to confirm her name.

"Oh yeah, here we use codenames as to not give our real identity off that easily. This girl's real name sounds like 'flower' but it's hard to just call her 'flower', so we just stick to Lily." Honoka explained before heading towards the desk in the middle of the room. Lily immediately opened the package and her eyes shine as she looked at the new graphics card that she bought. Lily closed the door to presumably install the new hardware.

"So you also have a nickname?" Jun walked closer towards Honoka, who is tidying up a few paperworks. "Yep. Faint."

"Faint? Why not something that describes you better like... Bread?"

Honoka pinched Jun's stomach, clearly annoyed by his description. Jun just laughed it off before looking at the desk. He noticed that there are a lot more paperwork that he initially thought. Honoka then tidied those papers up and sorted them accordingly. He smiled in seeing Honoka working hard.

"Oh yeah, Jun. Here's the paperwork."

Jun took the papers that Honoka gave him and noticed his resignment letter, as well as various other things like his new 'job application' and other paperworks. "You did these?"

"Of course!"

He put the papers inside his bag.

"And so... welcome to the group, Jun-- Is what I'd like to say, but..."

"Hm?"

"We ought to have all of our members for a formal introduction, you know?"

"Oh..."

Suddenly, Lily bursts open the door. "Faint! We have a problem!"

Without saying anything, both Honoka and Jun immediately ran towards the computer room. Looking back at it, it's an impressive room containing an impressive piece of hardware. They looked at one of the screen which shows the position of all the members, except for one.

"We lost contact with Polaris. She lost her position signal around 2 minutes ago." Lily said while pointing towards the screen where Polaris' previous position was. Honoka then skimmed through the entire screen, looking for a possible clue, but she could only find the position data for the others.

"Perhaps she's somewhere where the signal can't reach her?"

"It's possible, but we can't just leave her when there's a possibility that she may have been caught." Honoka said while holding her chin, before she looked towards Jun.

"Jun, I want you to go to her last known location, you might find something." Honoka said before going outside the computer room and taking a car key with her. Jun followed her outside the room and was immediately surprised by a car key that flew towards him. "This is?"

"Take the DB11. We got more, but that's the only car that's ready for now."

"Got it."

"Oh, wait." Lily ran outside the computer room and gave Jun a phone. "Take this, it's an encrypted phone tailor-made for you."

"Oh, thanks." Jun grabbed the phone and put it in his pocket. "That phone will be important for keeping in touch, make sure you don't lose it." Honoka explained before Jun nodded his head.

Honoka then took him towards an elevator near their room. She then input a series of numbers into its number pad before the elevator responded and took them into an unlisted basement area.

The basement is huge, easily accomodating 50 or more cars. But only one of them is ready to go. Before he managed to reach the DB11, he got called by another voice. "Oh, it's you."

He and Honoka looked back and saw a short girl, with black hair tied to a twin-tail. "Smiley, is the car ready?"

"Ready to go."

"Smiley?" Jun asked Honoka about the girl. "Oh yeah, this is Smiley, our car specialist."

"That's me. And you must be the one that scratched one of my babies last night. Repairing it is such a pain, so I'll appreciate it if you don't scratch the DB." Smiley said. She is surprisingly snarky and blunt, despite her short-stature. "O-okay... But, I don't know they employ children in this line of work..."

As if teleporting, Jun's comment suddenly made Smiley appear in front of him and grabbed him by his collar. "I'm 27! You better start respecting me, boy!"

"27 ?! You're just one year older than me, why should I respect you?"

"Get going already!"

With that, Jun hopped into the car and appreciate the interior and the exquisite craft of its build. "It smells like perfume in here."

"It's a car that I use regularly after all. It might smell... kind of like me." Honoka said with a faint blush on her face. Jun laughed and started the engine. The engine growled for a few seconds before Jun hit the gas and went off to his first 'mission'.

"You think he's capable of driving?" Smiley asked Honoka, who's still looking at the garage exit. "Trust me, Jun's the best driver that I've ever known. And based on his performance last night, he hasn't lost his edge ever since 12 years ago."

* * *

It was 15.00 when he arrived at Polaris' last location. He looked at his phone and opened Polaris' biodata. There, a picture of a young woman, with short orange hair appeared. He took one last look at her last known position and confirmed his current location.

He's in what you call as a 'red light district' although since it's still 15.00, most of the shops aren't open yet. The open shops are mostly just convenience stores and various cafes.

After looking around, he came across a club. It's located on the back-alleys, so it's pretty hard to see from the main street. He walked closer towards it and found himself blocked by two people wearing a suit. "Can I help you, sir?" One of the men said to him.

"Uh... I just want to go to the other side of the alley."

"It's just dead end, sir. If you have no other business, we suggest you leave." The other man said to him. Based on their stature and their way of dressing, they might be involved with the mafia, or the Yakuza. Fearing that there are no chance of him passing through, Jun gave up.

"All right, fi--"

"He's with me."

Jun looked back, as well as the other two men. He saw a young woman that fits the photo of Polaris, albeit with a longer hair. She was wearing a white sleeveless shirt and a black jersey miniskirt.

"Huh..." Those are the only words Jun can mutter before he got taken by the woman. "You guys fine with that?"

"Of course, Hoshimiya-san!"

The Yakuza men let Jun in, alongside the woman. She took him to one of the clubs and sat down at the bar. She invited him to drink, which Jun accepted.

"I never thought the picture is an old one."

The woman giggled, she then poured a glass of wine. "I... don't think I'll drink. It's hard to focus on the driving after I drink."

She then took the glass of wine and drank it herself. "I take it that you are Polaris?"

"Hoshimiya Ritsuko is the name I used around here, but yeah, on that apartment I'm the one and only Polaris."

"Why are you here?" Jun asked her while she poured another drink. "Sometimes I just wanted to sit back and relax. And this place is perfect for it. Why are you here, though? I never thought Faint will send you to pick me up."

"Well... Your location data suddenly disappeared and both Faint and Lily got worried."

"Oh." Polaris then quickly checked her phone, and noticed its black screen. "Ahaha. Sorry... the battery died." She poked her tongue out playfully. Jun facepalmed.

"Ah! But it's not for nothing, you know! I got an informant!"

"Informant?" Her sudden statement intrigued Jun for a bit. He looked at her and Polaris smirked before pouring another glass. "Yeah, he told me about an exchange going down near here between the Yakuza and... an unknown party."

"The syndicate?"

"Unconfirmed. But there's a high possibility." Polaris replied before drinking another glass of wine. Jun thought for a while about the object of the exchange. He was deep in thought for a while, before he spoke up. "When will it go down?"

"Tonight, in one of an unfinished construction site nearby."

He then grabbed his car keys and quickly headed towards the exit. "Hey! Where are you going?" Polaris caught up to him, after paying up of course. "To the site of course, aren't you coming?"

Polaris smiled and told him to wait in the car.

After quite a while of waiting, Polaris came into the car with her short hair while wearing a jacket and jeans. "Huh, it's a wig."

"Are you disappointed?"

Jun smiled and both of them went off to the location.

* * *

20.00, Both Jun and Polaris has reached the location and is currently still on stand by watching the situation. The meeting place is an unfinished construction site. Actually, rather than unfinished, it's more like abandoned as there are no sign of other construction machines, and most of the materials are gone, leaving only abandoned and dusty worker's quarters.

The abandoned nature of the site makes it a perfect place to hold an off-the-radar meeting. Especially since a lot of the old living quarters can be used to store various things without people suspecting.

However, it has been an hour and no one has come yet.

"Are you sure this is the place?"

Jun and Polaris are both on top of one of the unfinished building, they have a good overview of the entire place, including all of the exits and possible escape route. However, Jun's patience is running thin as no one else has come up except for both of them.

"Hmm... Perhaps he got it wrong?"

"Come on, now..."

Just then, the sound of the gates opening could be heard from both sides. Cars then started coming in to the abandoned site. "Hah! I told you!" Polaris exclaimed happily, before immediately being shushed by Jun.

Not long after, various people in black suit started coming out the cars.

Both Jun and Polaris hid behind the pillars when they saw one of the men brought out a giant suitcase from one of the SUV. Unfortunately, because of their distance, they can't listen what the men in black were saying. One of them seems to be offering the suitcase to the other party.

They then opened up the suitcase and revealed a robotic-looking device.

"A drone?"

"Seems like it."

The men then turned on the device before it opened up its propeller and revealed its real form as a giant drone. The drone looks rather advanced, with small side-mounted machine guns and what seems to be infrared camera so that it could see at night.

Jun then felt chills on his back, he suspects the drone also has the ability to see thermal, which means their position could be given away at any minute.

He then took Polaris' hand and pulled her away from the window so no one can see them. "Huh? Wait!"

Jun and Polaris then reached the floor below before Polaris broke off his hold. "Why are we running away?" She asked.

"It's a drone. There's a possibility that we may be--"

Before Jun finished his sentence, the drone appeared in front of them.

"Oh, shi--"

The drone took a good look at both Jun and Polaris. Before it charges its machine gun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, constructive criticism is very much welcomed!


	3. Confidential

Both Jun and Polaris looked in horror as they saw the drone’s machine guns charging up. Jun knew that he’s too late to dodge it, but his body responded to the life-or-death situation with a flight response. He immediately grabbed Polaris’ hand and tried to dodge the incoming bullet, but…

*wrrr*

The machine gun kept on charging, without a sign of bullets being fired. Jun and Polaris widened their eyes and looked at each other. Then a yell can be heard.

“You buffoon! Why doesn’t it fire?!”

“S-Sir… It’s just a prototype, we haven’t tested it for combat yet…”

Their rambles continue as the drone kept locking on towards Jun without doing anything. Jun breathes a sigh of relief and seizing the chance, he immediately ran away with Polaris. They arrived at the back entrance of the abandoned building, but was caught by some of the men in black.

“Oh, come on.” Jun stopped before being charged on by one of the men. He immediately dodged and started fighting with one of them.

On the other side, Polaris was caught in between three men in black who were ready to fight her. “Just because you’re a woman, doesn’t mean that we will hold back.”

“Good, I was hoping you wouldn’t.” She responded before briefly dodging one of the men’s punches and charged at all three of them. She jumped towards one of the men and locked his head between her legs. She then twisted her body, throwing the man downwards, face first into the hard concrete below. She then looked up and saw another men throwing a punch towards her face before she blocked it with her arms. She opened her palm and delivered a blow directly to his jaw. The man flinched backwards and tried to catch his balance.

Polaris then looked around her and found a few more heading towards the both of them.

Going back to Jun, he’s currently fighting against one of the men in a simple brawl. He delivered a blow directly to the man’s face and blocked a lot of his punches. It’s clear that he’s getting nowhere in this fight. He then grabbed a piece of wood and smacked it against the man’s skull, knocking him out instantly. Another one immediately grabbed him from behind and tried pinning him against a wall, but he managed to break free thanks to the wood. He then elbowed the man’s waist and knocked his head with the same wood, breaking it instantly.

“Hah! Take that! Anybody…”

Jun then looked around and found multiple knocked out Men laying on the floor, with only Polaris still standing. Overall, Jun knocked out 2 men, Polaris knocked out 7. “Woah…” He certainly did not expect her to be this strong.

“Come on, we got no time to waste.”

Jun nodded and the both of them headed towards where they parked the car.

They immediately got inside the car and Jun started the engine. He put the car into reverse and did a J-turn, putting the car’s front facing the exit of the construction site.

“You seriously need to work on your fighting skills, against three of them and you’ll be mowed easily.” Polaris teased him. “SORRY, I’m just a driver, you know.”

They reached the main road. Suddenly, multiple cars started following them. It’s the same car that the men in black were from. Jun cursed and started speeding up. Thanks to his car’s performance, outrunning them should be easy, but…

A gunshot could be heard. They started shooting at the car. Now Jun has to outrun AND dodge the bullets.

Obviously, some bullets managed to scratch the paintwork of the car. However, none of them penetrated the glass. “Go! The glass is bulletproof, don’t worry about it!”

“Now you’re talking.”

Fearing nothing else, Jun started speeding up again, dodging various obstacles along the way until he reached a railroad crossing. He saw that a train is coming very fast, and realizing his chance, he sped up. “What are you doing?”

“Buckle up!”

“You’re insane!” Polaris yelled as both of them ran towards the speeding train and…

They barely avoided the impact as the car flew towards the other side of the crossing. The car from before immediately stopped to avoid contact with the car. One of them hit the train and was thrown and damaged.

Both Jun and Polaris yelled in relief. “That was amazing! Again!” Polaris exclaimed cheerfully. Even when they almost died, she still smiled. “Come on now, let’s go home. My mission is to get you back home, not deal with this crap.”

After realizing that they’re not being followed anymore, Jun slowed down and started cruising towards the destination.

“So in the end it’s all for nothing?” He asked Polaris, she took out her phone and showed him a picture of the Men in black alongside the drone itself. It also showed a footage of the drone’s flight.

“Haha! When did you take it?”

“Fufu, I always take any chances when I see them! This’ll be a good evidence of the Syndicate’s existence.”

“But what if they’re NOT the Syndicate?”

“Well, at least we can just trace the manufacturer of the Drone and hopefully get a lead on whoever is holding its technology.”

Along the way home, Polaris is looking rather cheerful after she got herself some useful data. Jun can’t help but being reminded of a certain woman. “Hm? What is it? Are you perhaps attracted to me?” Polaris noticed his gaze and teased him about it. “Nah… I just thought that you act like Honoka when she was still a teenager.”

“Really? Hey. What is your relationship with her, anyway?”

“Me? I know her since Elementary school. We’re always together until we got separated at the end of our Middle School year.”

“Oh? Are you guys going out?” Polaris put out her phone and looked at Jun. “What makes you think that?”

“Because Faint’s expression changes whenever she’s talking about you. Moreover, she seems pretty confident in your driving ability.” She relaxed her back on the car’s seat before lowering it until she had a relaxed position. “That’s because I’ve driven since my middle-school days. My old man often lent me his car and I liked to take Honoka along for a drive.”

“I see…”

“We were… what you can call ‘delinquents’. We often sneak out of school class and drive anywhere to our heart’s content. I also taught her a few things about driving, but she seems to never get better at it.”

“Huh, that seems kind of different from what I heard?”

“Oh?” Jun’s interets was piqued by Polaris’ statement. “I heard from Wave that during her college years, Faint was a rather diligent student focused on her studies. She might not be a prodigy, but she managed to graduate with a decent score and created this group.”

“Seems like she changed.”

“But when she’s talking about you, she kind of… changes from our stern and cool-headed leader to this softer woman…”

Jun smiled. “How about you? How do you know Honoka in the first place?” He changed the topic.

“I… was a gang leader.”

* * *

_I was a gang leader from the slums. Amongst the various gangs there, mine stands out because we’re an all-female gang. Also because we don’t just steal crap or mug other people. Our gang just wanted to enforce justice by fighting other gangs for their… impoliteness on our turf. Things were going smoothly, until those people came…_

_I never saw them before. It’s clear that they’re from outside the slums. They wear jet black suits and usually wears sunglasses to hide their identity. One might suspect them to be the Mafia or the Yakuza, but they act differently from those two groups… They often came to our turf and recruited people for their own gain. Some people declined it, but they were never heard from again… Some of them accepted and never reappeared in the Slums._

_Little by little, my gang started shrinking until we are irrelevant. Eventually, our turf is completely bought out by them. They even hired other gangs to occupy our turf like it’s their business! With the remaining members left, we challenged the other gangs to get our turf back._

_It was a big riot, police were involved after things started to go south and pedestrians were harmed. Fearing jail time, I fleed. I ran away, abandoning my duties as a leader. I then realized how immature I was, I was never a leader… I was an insecure little child who created her own gang just so people could view me as someone strong, not weak… During my runaway, I was caught by her. Kousaka Honoka, I know that she’s with the Five-O and she’s not someone to be messed with._

_But she offered me something. She offered me a chance to redeem myself. Knowing my skill in martial arts and my connections, she recruited me. I forsake my old identity and used the codename ‘Polaris’…_

* * *

“Wow… Is it okay to share all of this to me?” He looked at her. “Why not? We ARE a group after all… It’s useless to hide things when we’ll stick around for God knows how long.” She said with a relaxed face and a smile before closing her eyes, it’s clear that she’s a bit too tired after all of those things.

Jun smiled. “Yeah, you’re right. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Polaris…”

“Call me Rin.”

“Hm?”

“Rin. That’s my first name. Find out my last name yourself.” She teased while looking at him. “Roger that, Rin.”

“But only when we’re off duty. Codenames are used only on duty to preserve our identity after all.” She said before closing her eyes. The rest of the driving went by without any problems. No one seems to follow them and no one seems to put any tracker on the car.

Jun drives into the garage, which opened automatically, letting the car in without having to step out. He got to say, it’s pretty convenient. Jun wakes up Polaris, who slept in the middle of the drive. “Hey, we’re back.”

“Nn…”

She stretched and got up, before stepping out of the car.

“Well, well… In the end you scratched the car.” Smiley greeted them with a frown on her face. Fortunately she’s not angry and she just left a warning to Jun for the next time. “Oh, you should go to Faint. She has been wondering what were you doing abandoning your mission like that.”

“For the record, I did not abandon my mission. You can ask Rin for that.”

“Hm? Rin?”

“ *yawn* I’ll tell you later… Let’s go upstairs for now.”

“I see… You’re calling her by name. Honoka’s going to be pissed.” Smiley… smiled and giggled at the thought.

Just as they were heading towards the elevator, the garage door opened. It revealed a woman riding a bike, which appears to be an MV Agusta F4 Claudio. She parked it on a spot designated only for bikes. “Huh, I don’t know you also have bikes.”

“Wanna try riding one of them?” Rin asked Jun, before he looked at her with an enthusiastic look. “I’ll gladly take you up on that offer.”

The woman then dismounted the bike. She took off her helmet, revealing a long blonde hair. She’s wearing a leather suit that perfectly hugged her figure. Jun took a good look at her face and noticed some resemblance to European Faces, most likely from the north judging by her pale skin. “Huh… a foreigner?”

“That’s Matryona. She’s one of us.”

“Ahh…”

The woman then walked towards the three of them. “You’re the driver from last night, I’m assuming?” She looked towards Jun, he just nodded as the blonde took her time in looking. She then walked pass both Jun and Rin without saying anything. “Sorry, she’s a bit… cold.” Smiley said.

“Yeah, seems more like an Ice Queen to me…”

* * *

“What do you think?”

With a giant display mounted on the meeting room, the rest of the group are directly looking at various images that Rin took of the unidentified drone. After a series of various images, it then played back a video that showcased the drone’s flying capabilities and its side-mounted machine guns.

“A battle-capable drone. With that size it might be possible to have mounted guns, but the weight of the bullets might sacrifice its nimbleness and agility. I want to get my hands on one.” Smiley said with a smirk on her face.

“Lily. Can you find the exact model online?” Faint asked the ‘hacker’. She immediately adjusted her glasses. “I might be able to. But if it’s a prototype, It may be harder to find the exact base model or the manufacturer. It might even be specifically custom-made. But I’ll do my best.”

“Good.”

“Don’t you think this’ll be a good proof to uncover the Syndicate?” Rin asked enthusiastically. “Not yet. It might be a proof, but not necessarily a good proof.”

“Besides, are we even sure that the group IS the Syndicate? For all we know, it might be the Yakuza or the Mafia.” One of the woman said, she has a short shoulder-length red hair and is wearing a gray coat.

“Even if they aren’t, we can’t just let these kinds of machines being distributed freely. It might end up in the hands of The Syndicate themselves.”

The room went silent for a moment. “Also, even if we don’t have a decent proof, we already have a ‘living’ proof.”

“Hey now, don’t you think it’s a bit of a stretch to call me a ‘living’ proof?” Jun stood up. “But you are?”

“Urgh… Let me just introduce myself then.”

Jun cleared his throat.

“My name’s Jun. You can find out my last name yourself.” Jun said while looking at Rin. She smirked. “Sly.”

“… As you may have probably heard, I was once a part of the group you called ‘Syndicate’. But you should know that the Syndicate themselves aren’t one big group. They’re divided into multiple smaller groups that are working together and are being lead by one man… or woman. No one has ever seen them. Me, myself, only joined one of the many smaller group that focuses mainly on vehicular needs.”

“Why did you enter the Syndicate in the first place?” The blue-haired woman asked him.

Jun went silent for a few seconds before he sat down. He sighed. “How should I say it… To learn the truth, I guess.” He looked up and started remembering his past, which he dislikes. “… I suspected that my dead parents were once involved with them in some ways or another. Which is why I joined them to know what really happened to my parents. It proves to be the worst decision I’ve ever done in my life.” He continued.

Knowing well how disturbed he is when talking about his past, the others decided not to press him any further. Not long after, everyone has introduced themselves.

Starting from the ones that he already know.

“Name’s Rin. Codename’s Polaris. We had an interesting introduction, but I hope we could get along from now on.”

“Codename’s Lily. I wouldn’t call myself a hacker, but I am very good in computers and technologies. N-Not the hardware side, though! I prefer softwares myself.”

“I’m Smiley. I probably have the most ridiculous codename but I’m fine with it. If you have businesses with machineries, vehicles, and hardwares, I’m the one you call.”

The red-haired woman then stood up. “Maestra. If you’re hurt, come to me. I’ll fix you up, hopefully.” She immediately sat down without saying much.

“I’m Tidal. I do hope we can work efficiently together.” Like Maestra, the blue-haired woman is also a woman-of-few-words. But it seems that she’s the most assertive out of all the other members.

“Matryona. Your driving skill is good, I’ll give you that. But the important thing is whether you’ll prove to be useful for this team or not.” Wow, out of all the other members. She’s probably the most sharp-tongued. Yet Jun felt that she’s not someone to be messed with.

“My codename’s Avian. My name is secret! In my opinion, the more allies we have, the better chance we have on taking the Syndicate down. So I hope we can work together.” Ah, she’s pretty soft-spoken and polite. She has ash brown hair that is tied on its side.

“Ah, my name is Hope. You could say that I’m the caretaker for this group… and for something else.” The purple haired woman said. She has a mysterious aura that is hard to be put to words, but Jun knows to not get on her bad side.

"... And I'm yours truly. Kousaka Honoka. Codename's faint. I welcome you to the group, Jun."

Even with all the tensions, they still took a calm appearance. Honoka told all of them to go to sleep, as tomorrow might be another busy day.

“Oh, Jun?”

“Yes?”

“Your room is the opposite of this room. Unfortunately we can’t let an only man to sleep inside the same room with ours.”

“What?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, constructive criticism is welcomed and look forward to the next chapter!


	4. Meet the Team

Fortunately, the room that was assigned specifically for Jun is a rather cozy and tidy room. Sure, it’s just a small studio apartment with only a double-size bed. But it has all the neccesities that you’d expect for an apartment room. They even took the liberty of bringing Jun’s belongings to this new apartment room, neat.

Jun took his time recording his activities and a few new informations on his notebook just to be safe. This results in him losing 3 hours of sleep time, so he wakes up the next day with a slight drowsiness.

The next day, all of the members were once again called after Lily has found out something about the images that Rin took yesterday. Some of the many informations he wrote to his notebook includes the identity of each and every one of the members of the group. Of course, it’s still on progress since he hasn’t known each of them personally yet.

One of them is…

_Codename: Lily  
Real Name: ???  
Notable Features: Techwiz  
Notes: Extremely good at computers and technologies alike. Seems serious about her job. _

She’s the one that worked all-night trying to match the drone’s appearance with the database from the internet. Unfortunately, no exact match of the drone was found. Fortunately, the possible base model of the drone is easily identified.

“However, the base model of the drone is being produced overseas. So this might mean the drones came from outside Japan.” Lily explained while the screen shows the many possible countries. “… But let’s assume that ONLY the base model is produced overseas, yet this prototype is produced here in Japan... I managed to find the documents on all drone imports from the last few years of this exact model here to Japan and…”

As expected, most of the buyers are enthusiasts and hobby stores. But there’s an abnormal amount of drones ordered for a single company. Despite the packages being sent to a single company, the addresses the packages were sent to are different for each batch. And luckily the company is not that far from Tokyo albeit outside of the city.

“What does that company do?” Jun asked while looking at the map.

“I’ve checked the background of the company and found out that they’ve been established just a year ago. It’s a new startup company that supposedly, ‘provides security so tight that you don’t have to wear a belt’.”

“What the hell?”

“Anyway, it’s clearly just a front for their activity. They made illegal battle-capable drones and are probably planning to sell them to certain buyers. Also, they took a drone model from another company, modify it, and claims it as their own. Multiple offenses from a single company.” Rin exclaimed.

Another member, the one that he had a brief mission with.

_Codename: Polaris  
Real Name: Rin ???  
Notable Features: Extremely good at Martial Arts  
Notes: Very cheerful and rather friendly, although could get serious at times_

Currently, out of all the members, Rin and Honoka are the only ones that have ‘accepted’ Jun fully. That’s mostly because he has shared a few moments with Rin, and an entire childhood with Honoka.

The room then discussed about the company. Its contact, its history, and its involvement with suspicious groups. Some of the data leads to some evidence, but most of them leads nowhere. It’s clear that this company is really good at hiding its track record.

No pictures or company profile exists within their website. Heck, their website is as barebones as it could be, only revealing a mailing address that doesn’t correspond with its actual address. It also provides an email that only leads to a reply-bot.

All of the data confirms that this company is a rather suspicious one, and should be investigated immediately.

“I may have a plan.” Matryon said with her usual monotone voice.

_Codename: Matryon  
Real Name: ???  
Notable Features: Infiltrator, Manipulator  
Notes: Rather cold to everyone. Extremely serious when it comes to her job and is rarely seen together with the others._

“… Lily. Could you get the company’s contact?” Matryon continued.

“I can perhaps get you its owner’s contact.”

“Great. Let’s get ready.” Matryon said as she stood up and headed towards her room. “Ready for what?”

“For a meeting.”

* * *

**_Undisclosed Location – 6 Hours Later…_ **

The contact process went by surprisingly quick. The owner seemed very eager in meeting them, probably because he thought that he’ll get another customer for his illegal business.

Matryon planned that some of them will disguise and confront the owner while the others will sneak in and hopefully get an evidence to at least get something out of the owner.

Under the alias, Alexandra Yermilova, a Russian Businesswoman who has just recently established her new company branch in Japan and is currently looking for a security firm that can provide the best security for her new branch. You can thank Avian for making a background up.

_Codename: Avian  
Real Name: ???  
Notable Features: Disguise Expert  
Notes: When it comes to forging identities and creating disguises, she’s the one to go. _

Avian’s work is rather delicate. She managed to forge an identity, and a history in a short period of time.

The ones that are going to infiltrate are Jun and Rin, they will wear the worker’s uniform and hopefully infiltrate the building alongside Matryon. Hope and Tidal are going to be acting as bodyguards for Matryon.

_Codename: Hope  
Real Name: ???  
Notable Features: Gunwoman  
Notes: Mysterious yet calm. Shown to be good at using any types of guns._

_Codename: Tidal  
Real Name: ???  
Notable Features: Melee Weapon Master  
Notes: Extremely good with traditional weaponries like swords and bows, rather average at gunplay._

The both of them are perfect to be bodyguards. When things go haywire, they could at least secure an escape route.

The rest of the group stand by outside the building. Providing backup in case things go out of control.

“Why can’t I go in? I want to see those drones with my own eyes!” Smiley palmed her fist and gritted her teeth in frustration. She’s always interested in all sorts of machineries and the drone is no exception.

_Codename: Smiley  
Real Name: ???  
Notable Features: Mechanical Maniac  
Notes: She looks younger than she actually is. Snarky and childish, yet dependable._

“You really think you can take on multiple people when things go awry in there?” The redhead spoke, startling Smiley immediately. “Urgh.”

_Codename: Maestro  
Real Name: ???  
Notable Features: Medic  
Notes: Cold, yet delicate when taking care of injuries._

“Speak for yourself! You’re no different than me!” Smiley retaliates, although it doesn’t budge the redhead at all. “At least I don’t complain about it like a child.” Maestro shot back. “Y-You!!”

Smiley almost lunged herself towards the redhead before Honoka stopped them. “Shh. They’re going in.”

_Codename: Faint  
Real Name: Honoka Kousaka  
Notable Features: Leader, Jack-of-all-trades  
Notes: Stern when it comes to her job, yet warms up to Jun._

The luxury car entered the lobby of the building. Hope stepped out of the front seats while wearing her suit, she opened the door for Matryon. The blonde stepped out of the car with a rather luxurious dress. Maestro whistled, “Not bad, Avian.”

“Thank you.” Avian replied from the front of the van.

While the staffs are distracted by Matryon’s appearance, Jun and Rin managed to sneak themselves in. They reached the lobby while dressed as the staffs from the company. “I can’t believe it worked.”

“Focus. Let’s search for a suspicious place.”

 _“The communication device should function properly now. Try it now.”_ The voice of Lily is suddenly heard from the ear-piece she gave them before going in. “Copy. Where are we?” Rin replied.

_“The Ground Floor, there’s a basement though, try to find a way there.”_

“Got it.” Jun and Rin started searching for an emergency exit when they found an elevator that went below the ground floor. Unfortunately, it seems the elevator could only be operated by an employee’s card. “Lily, I’m in need of an assistance, could you do something about the elevator?”

“Wait.”

Suddenly, the elevator opened up and once both of them entered, it immediately closed and went below. “Impressive, Lily.”

“Th-This is nothing! For a security company, their mainframe is weak.”

Once they reached the basement, they were immediately met with sounds of machineries and people chattering. They’ve reached the upper level of the basement and they could see the entire main assembly of the drones.

The base models are hoarded in a single spot before being inspected by multiple people presumably for quality control. Once they’re inspected, they will be put in an automation process that applies the ‘enchancements’ before being inspected once again. Some of their internal parts are also altered to change various codes.

Before they’re forget, they snapped a picture and sent it to Matryon.

_Meanwhile…_

“It’s an honor to have a customer like you, Yermilova-san.” The Boss of the company said with a smile. “May I ask what brings you to my humble company? I believe there are more… feasible options for security companies out there.” He continued.

“I heard that your company, despite being a young startup, has managed to ‘create’ a system to protect whatever it’s commanded to do. I’m simply interested in this… system.” Matryon replied, trying to rile The Boss into admitting his company’s activities.

“O-oh! Could I know where you heard that from?”

“Fufu. Is it that important?”

“A-Ahaha. You’re right! You’re right!”

Suddenly Matryon got a notification on her phone. She took a quick look at it and realized the pictures of the company’s basement courtesy of Rin and Jun. She gave a signal for Hope and Tidal before both of them nodded after receiving the signal.

Matryon smirked and she faced the Boss once again.

“Tell me something… What is the ‘system’ you created in this factory?”

“Oh, nothing much. It’s a hardware with a software embedded into it.” The Boss replied. “Could you elaborate more into this software?” Matryon asked, fully knowing that Lily is listening.

“I’m afraid that’s classified. If you wonder about its potency, you could ask our partners for their testimonies instead.”

“Oh? Partners? Unofficial or Official?”

“Pardon?”

Matryon opened her phone and read something on it. “Recently, your company bought a huge batch of drones from abroad and sent it here. People could easily mistake this as a partnership, however you bought these drones under different names, sending them to phantom addresses, and sending them here afterwards…”

Matryon closed her phone. “No matter how you look at it, it’s strange for you to use multiple name for a supposed ‘partnership’. I’m starting to wonder whether you’re… not?”

The Boss went silent and the room went really silent for a few seconds. The Boss almost spoke up before Matryon interfered, “Also, I don’t think putting machine guns in drones is ‘legal’, although thank you for telling the software embedded inside of it.”

“How’d you kno—“

“Perhaps enchance your ‘security’ next time. Kind of ironic don’t you think?”

“Kuh—“

Suddenly, the Boss threw a swift motion towards his table, activating a button. The alarm went off and a full lockdown of the building is engaged. The Floor below the Boss opens, revealing an elevator that took him to a safe place. Unfortunately, Matryon and the others failed to capture him.

“Damn.” Matryon cursed as she, Hope and Tidal went out the office.

They’re confronted by the female secretary of The Boss and multiple armed men. “Don’t let them escape!” The secretary exclaimed before the men aimed and shot the women. Tidal acted quickly and jumped between them and the shooters. She unsheated her sword and made a swift motion, striking all of the bullets they shot in a single motion.

Sparks came flying from her sword as the shooters stood in awe. Clearly surprised at her skill.

The secretary, despite her surprise immediately charges and attacked Tidal. She blocked it and both of them exhanges blows despite Tidal using a sword. Yet the secretary manages to hold her own. “Go! I’ll take care of them!”

Matryon and Hope nodded and went to the emergency stairs. Unfortunately, the emergency stairs are occupied by some men in black as well. Hope took out a gun from her belt and shot multiple sprinklers and fire extinguishers, distracting them.

Her shots are precise, none of them missed.

They managed to distract a few men, but they were forced to take a different route to escape the building.

_Meanwhile…_

The alarms suddenly went off in the basement and the workers are forced to evacuate the site. Multiple people guided the workers to a safe place whilst the others stand by for the intruders. Both Jun and Rin started searching for a hiding place.

 _“Jun, Rin. Abort mission.”_ Lily’s voice came through the communication device. They started sneaking towards an exit before Rin accidentally stepped on a conveniently placed can. The sound of the can alerted multiple guards.

“They’re they are!”

Fortunately, the guards are not using guns, only various melee weapons. The guards started chasing the pair as they kept searching for the exit. They managed to find a locker that barely fits the both of them. The guards ran past the locker that they’re hiding in.

Jun and Rin barely fits the locker and their bodies are rubbing against each other in a rather suggestive ways. Couple that with the lack of air and the heat inside, their situation just got too close for comfort. “I’m sorry.” Jun said while looking away from Rin’s sweaty shirt.

“I-It’s fine. It’s an emergency after all.”

After making sure that the area is safe, they got out the locker and gasped for air. The sudden temperature refreshed them, but the experience is something that wil be imprinted within their memory. Rin then tidied herself up and looked around. “Let’s go. The exit shouldn’t be far.”

But Jun is looking towards the other way. “You go on ahead. I have a plan.”

“Wait! What are you—“ Rin was left with no time to speak as Jun jumped towards the other direction opposite from the exit. “Jeez! Just be safe!” She exclaimed while being cautious as to not alert the guards, then she reached the exit.

Back to Jun, he’s sneaking around various guards near a basement parking. He noticed a crate being loaded to one of the van before, that’s why he’s planning to hijack one and hopefully bring it back to the HQ. He knocked one of the guards out and grabbed his baton as a safety measure.

He immediately stepped inside the van and started the engine.

The sound of the engine notified multiple guards but Jun is already revving the engine and has already started his escape. The guards can’t do anything as they see the van escaping alongside the goods that they were suppose to protect.

“We… might need reinforcements…” One of the guards said through the walkie talkie.

Jun drove away with some of the drones that they made. He looked back and saw no one following him as he exits the building’s lot. Unfortunately, his peace was short-lived as he’s suddenly seen by multiple black SUVs that immediately chase him down.

Knowing he’s in danger, he quickly put his foot down the pedal and started driving away from the pursuers. Thankfully with his driving skill, he’s untouchable. He quickly outrun them in the city, despite him using an inferior car.

The black SUVs then gave out in chasing him. But Jun realized that there’s always a calm before the storm. Not long after, he saw a flying object that came from the sky. One of the battle drone quickly chased him down and it seems that the drone is one of the finished model as the drone charges its guns and started shooting.

Fortunately, it’s not in full-auto mode so Jun managed to dodge a few of the bullets. However some of them manages to put a hole on the car.

“All right, let’s see how great you are in operating that machine.” Jun realized that the drone is being operated manually and started driving more recklessly in hopes of catching the operator off guard. He saw a tunnel coming up and slowed down, waiting for the drone to shoot so its focus will be shifted more towards his car.

The drone started shooting again, then Jun matches the pace of the drone with his car. But he quickly sped up as soon as he’s about to go inside the tunnel. The sudden change of pace caught the drone off guard, sending it flying to the top of the tunnel, then it flew towards the wall and broke one of its propeller, immediately disabling it.

Jun cheered in his own achievement and started contacting the others for a rendezvous point.

* * *

“You’re too reckless!” Honoka yelled at Jun, after they met up in a secluded place. “What if you got caught? Or worse, killed?!” She continued, Jun looked down as he know he doesn’t get a say in this and once Honoka’s angry, she’s hard to calm down.

“Smiley! Are there any trackers on those drones?” Honoka called out to Smiley who just entered the room after checking the drones. “There are, but fortunately are inactive.”

“See?! It’s not just your safety, but the others as well!”

She continued on for a few more minutes after this.

Jun was put in charge for driving the van back to the HQ. Matryon tagged along in the van saying that ‘she’ll look after Jun so that he won’t do anything reckless’ as a reason.

“Haha. I never saw Faint that angry before. I guess she really acts differently around you, huh?”

“Eh? Where did you hear that?”

“We noticed that she always acted differently if you’re present. It feels that she’s more expressive with you around.” Matryon rests her back on the passenger’s seat. “… I gotta say, the fact that you managed to shake off the pursuing cars and drones is impressive, I’ll give you that.”

“Oh, you saw that?”

“Yup. When we got out of the building we saw multiple black SUVs chasing down a van, then we got the news that you took their van with you.”

“I see…” The conversation suddenly went silent. Jun kept on driving while Matryon looked outside at the cars and building lights passing by. “Hey.” Jun broke the silence, Matryon looked back at him.

“If I may ask, who are you?”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“Your actual identity. Not your name, but your background and how did you join Honoka in the first place.” He asked while keeping his sight forward. Matryon looked to the road ahead. “Why should I tell you?”

“Pfft. I don’t know. Just because, I guess. The silence is killing me, you know.” Jun laughed, Matryon then giggled and rests her back again. “Guess where I came from, then I’ll talk.”

“All right. My guess? Russia. You’re probably a former FSB agent that defected because of reasons.”

“Wow. Хорошо́. Impressive.”

“Oh crap, I’m right?”

“Yep. But I’m half-Russian. My father’s Japanese and I defected of my own accord.” She said to Jun who took a quick glance at her. “Um… The last time I heard an FSB agent defects of his own accord, things don’t go too well for him…”

“I don’t think I’m in any danger, though. The last time an assassin was sent to get me…”

“Huh?” Jun exclaimed in surprise.

“I killed them.”

“Huh?!” Jun exclaimed in even more surprise.

Matryon chuckled, “Just kidding. No assassins have been sent fortunately.”

They talked for a rather long time, chatting about various things including Jun’s history with Honoka and Matryon’s meeting with Honoka. Apparently, Matryon defected because she didn’t feel right working with them and instead went to her father’s homeland to search for new things. She met Honoka when Honoka was scouting for members for her group.

But Matryon didn’t immediately accept it. It wasn’t until her father got into a conflict with an unknown company and never to be seen again. Wanting to know who kidnapped and possibly killed her father, she joined Honoka in hopes of finding the culprit.

“Huh. Who’s your father, actually?”

“I don’t really know him that well. You could say my reason in joining Faint’s group is just a ruse, in reality I’m really missing a lot of action on the field that I need a reason to affirm myself… But even then… I’m still not quite sure.”

Another silence, and this time Jun almost broke it again before… “Hey. Why did you call Polaris by her real name?” Matryon suddenly asked, seemingly out of topic from before.

“Rin? She asked me to, actually.”

“Then call me by my name as well.” She demanded, Jun looked at her in surprise. “Huh, why?”

“Just because.” Matryon smiled teasingly. Jun smiled, realizing that she used his own words against him. “All right, but I don’t know your name, though?”

Matryon chuckled before saying, “Eli.”

* * *

_Codename: Matryon  
Real Name: Eli ???  
Notable Features: Infiltrator, Manipulator  
Notes: Despite her serious exterior, she’s surprisingly friendly and talkative when you get to know her more._


	5. A Slice of Life

“Morning.”

“Hey.” Eli replied to Jun who just got in the garage. Right now she’s performing basic maintenance to her bike in the morning. She woke up rather early, as per her usual routine. Out of all the members, she woke up the second earliest, only beaten by Tidal who is rather strict in her own schedule.

One of her usual morning routine is performing basic maintenance to her bike, like what she’s doing right now. But because she just woke up not long before, she’s still wearing pretty much her sleepwear, which consists of a white tanktop and atlethic pants. Her hair is also not done in a ponytail like her usual.

“I didn’t get to say it before, but nice bike by the way.” Jun said before taking a seat near Eli. “Thank you. Ain’t she a beauty?”

“I gotta ask though, why an MV? Why not other brands like Honda?”

“Meh. They’re good, but I prefer my bikes to be as beautiful as me.” Eli said teasingly, which earned a chuckle from Jun. “You ride?” Eli asked while still keeping her eyes on the engine.

“Yeah. Back when I had jobs that requires them. But I never had a bike myself.” Jun stood up and started looking at other bikes that they have in store. Although not as much as the cars, they have multiple bikes here, ranging from Honda, Yamaha and even Ducati. Perhaps he should take one for a spin sometimes.

“Haha. Well, we have some of them here, why don’t you take one?”

“Woah, can I?”

“All vehicles here aren’t really owned by anyone. They’re all owned by us. But we kind of picked our own and the others then refrain from using it unless given permission. I’m more of a bike person myself, so I chose this girl as my daily driver.” Eli grabbed the fuel tank of her bike and looked at it while smiling. Her expression clearly showed her passion for bikes.

“Huh… So everyone has a vehicle for their own?”

“Not all of us. Only a few that likes to drive. You drove Honoka’s car before, didn’t you?” Eli stood up after a cleaning the bike. “Ah yes, the DB11.”

“That’s a car she chose herself. She turned it to her daily driver and believ it or not, none of us ever drove it, except for you.”

“Oh? Is that so?”

“She must’ve trusted you so much to entrust her belongings to you. Even now I still wonder how you got so close in the first place.”

“Well, when we were little, we live near each other that we met everyday. Couple that with the fact that we went to the same school made us even closer.”

Eli then turned the engine of her bike to warm it up. It growls nicely and earned a nod from Jun. His expression tells that he likes the sound of the engine. After a while she shuts down the bike. “Hey.” She called out to him right before he’s going to look at the other cars. “Hm?”

“I just want to apologize for my behaviour when we first met. I have some… trust issues. So can we just like… start over?”

Jun stopped and looked at her. He extends his hands towards her. “Okay. I’m looking forward to working with you from now on, Eli.”

Eli noticed his hand and wiped her hands first before extending it to a handshake. “Yeah. If our leader trusts you, I’m pretty sure I can too.”

“Don’t worry. Just rely on me on all driving jobs.”

They shook hands and looked at each other with a better understanding of one another.

“Hey. Don’t flirt with each other early in the morning.”

Both Jun and Eli flinched. They looked at the voice and saw Rin grinning while resting her head on her hands. She’s wearing a yellow short-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of shortpants. “You surprised me.” Jun exclaimed, Rin laughed at his response before apologizing. However she went silent after laughing, as if thinkig about something.

“Rin?”

Eli noticed her silence and sighed. “Are you still thinking about last night?”

* * *

_Last Night, Meeting room…_

_“You gotta be kidding!” Rin stood up and exclaimed. She slammed her hands on the table and leaned her body forward with an annoyed expression. “What do you mean we gotta let the case go?!”_

_“It is what it is… We cannot go against the board of directors. Unfortunately we just have to abide by their decisions." Honoka crossed her arms and leaned back against her chair while looking down, clearly disappointed by their decision as well._

_Rin clenched her fists. “Fuc—“_

_“Screw them. Who cares about their decisions? We’re here to bring down the Syndicate, not to babysit a bunch of old men that could only sit down at their desks all day. If anyone’s going to bring the Syndicate down, it’s gotta be us.” Jun stood up besides Rin and just let out what he was thinking. The others are rather surprised by his bold style of speech, but most of them agreed and nodded their head._

_“Are you telling us to ignore their decisions?”_

_“Exactly. And if we succeed in bringing them down first, they won’t have a say in it.”_

_Honoka stared at Jun with an unusually cold eyes, but quickly warmed up and sighed. “You’ve always been like this…”_

_It was faint, but everyone in the room could see their leader smile._

* * *

“I just… loathe myself for not being able to say anything then.” Rin looked down in embarassment, while fidgeting her thumbs. “…Maybe because I was in a gang that I dislike rules.” She continued.

“It’s not about rule. I, myself, follow a rule when they make sense. But when the rule makes no fucking sense, I couldn’t care less and just straight up ignore it.” Jun continued looking at the bikes at view. “… or maybe because I was a rebel when I was little, ask Honoka about that.” He continued while looking at both girls with a slight embarassment in his voice.

“Welp. No use in thinking about that, I guess. Speaking of which, what were you guys doing?” Rin spoke up and changed her tone to a bit more joyful. “He asked about the vehicles, and how some of us owned them. I guess he wants one for himself.” Eli replied.

“I see. I see. That sounds like Jun, alright.”

“Hey.” With a deadpan face and tone, Jun responded.

“Just pick whatever, we could use all of them anyway.” Rin hopped and approached Jun, pushing him from behind towards the many cars the garage offers. “Ah. Now that you mention it, what car do you usually use?”

“Hm? I don’t really like heavy cars, so I usually use a smaller sports car, but I do prefer my Lotus Exige.”

“Hmm, Yes. It suits you.”

“Somehow I feel that you’re mocking my… certain lacking areas.”

“Just your imagination.” Still deadpan from before.

Suddenly, something caught Jun’s attention. He broke free from Rin’s scary gaze and walked towards a car. “Something caught your eyes?” Eli asked while walking towards Jun who still has his gaze fixed to the car.

Jun walked towards a car that is cloaked in gray cloth. He took a walk around it, examining its shape and figured that it’s a mid-engined car. He looked at Rin, who responded with a shrug as if saying that she’s not responsible for it. Jun grabbed the cloth and unwrapped the car, revealing its brand and name.

“Huh… Goddamn.”

That is all that Jun can say as he examined the car even further. Unlike other cars in its brand, which usually came in red, this one came in a rather metallic dark grey that manages to accentuate the car’s curves and its design. Sure the brand ‘Ferrari’ may be synonimous with supercars that the masses like and therefore a bit overrated, coupled with the fact that if you ask anyone what their favorite supercar is, they’ll probably say a ‘Ferrari’, but it can’t be ignored that they make damn good looking cars.

“The F8 Tributo? This car’s new. How’d you even get this?”

“Ask Smiley any car, and she could hook you up the next day.”

Jun spent a few more minutes examining the car and finally decided that he’s going to take the car for himself. "About the keys, ask Smiley about it, she’s the one who organized all the wheels here.” Eli said before taking her bike for a joyride. Rin excused herself afterwards to do her morning exercise. Which leaves Jun to find where Smiley is.

He looked around and eventually found both Smiley and Lily in the computer room. They’re currently working on the drones that he stole yesterday and are examining them for clues and interesting points about them.

As Jun walked inside the room, Smiley noticed him but Lily still fixated on her work, not realizing Jun’s presence. “Oh, morning. What do you want?”

Jun then asked for the keys to the Tributo.

“The new car? Don’t tell me you’re going to use it.”

“Well, that’s the plan.” Jun walked closer as Smiley opened a drawer and took out the car keys. She handed him the car keys, but pulled it before he grabbed them. “Don’t scratch it.”

“It’ll be fine.” Smiley then gave him the car keys and went back to the drones. Lily is still fixated on the computer screen. “Anything interesting?” Jun put the keys into his pocket and walked towards Smiley who’s dismantling the drones.

“A bit. The trackers are connected to a server somewhere, but we can’t pinpoint the location yet. Hopefully soon though.” She kept her eyes on the PCB that she took out the drones, looking at it and the various parts that she had dismantled from the poor drone.

“Give or take this evening, I’ll give—“ Lily looked back and jumped in surprise at the sight of Jun. “Ah! Since when did you—“

“Uhh… Five minutes ago?”

“I-I see… Sorry. I got too into something when it interests me the most.”

With the promise of a new information by evening, he got something that he could at least look forward to. In the meantime, he has a lot of free time. Before testing his new ride, he thought to at least look around and study the building so he doesn’t have to walk around and ask just to reach a specific room.

Instead of taking the elevator, he took the stairs to the floor below. He never really look around the building much. The first time he got here, he thought of this building as just a run-down apartment, but the entire building is actually owned by their groups, from the roof to the basement and thus the entire three floors of the building are privately-owned and he can wander around.

Jun walked around before the elevator chimed. The elevator doors then opened and revealed Maestro, carrying two boxes full of things. “Oop. Sorry.” Jun stepped back and let Maestro walked pass him, but she’s clearly struggling to carry those boxes. Jun sighed and offered.

“Here, let me carry the other one.”

“Woah, hey. Watch out! What are you—“

“Come on, just give the other box.” Jun stretched his arms out and grabbed the top box. As expected it’s pretty heavy and it’s surprising how Maestro could carry it from the basement by herself, even with the help of the elevator.

“Fine… Thanks.”

Both of them reached a room that looks like an infirmary from the inside. He then reminds himself that Maestro is good at medical stuffs. He then put down the boxes on one of the bed per Maestro’s instructions. “What are these things?”

“Equipments. For medical purposes.” She put down her boxes as well and started rummaging through its stuffs. She took out various equipments and interestingly, some of them are labeled. Did she took it from somewhere else, a hospital or a clinic perhaps?

He looked at the box in front of him and sure enough, they’re labeled something.

“Nishikino?”

Maestro jumped in surprise and looked back at him. “Y-Yes?” She stammered. “No. It’s just the names that are written in these boxes.” Jun stopeed before realizing something. “Huh, isn’t Nishikino the name of that hospital…” His sentence is cut off by Maestro who grabbed the boxes from his hands immediately.

“Ahh! Nothing! It’s nothing! Just a coincidence!”

Sureee. He’s not buying it. Either she stole these equipments or that she has someone inside of that hospital that supplied her with these equipments. OR she has some sort of connection with the Nishikino family. Either way, after calming down she walked towards a cabinet and grabbed a pack of supplements before giving it to Jun.

“Here.”

“These are?”

“Supplements. If you’re working here, you’re going to need it, especially since you’re a driver and you need to take care of your body more.” She said before turning on her laptop that sat on the desk. “Huh, I’ve never thought about that. Thank you, Nishikino.”

Once again, Maestro jumped and her face blushed. “Don’t call me that!” She pushed Jun out of the room in embarassment.

Jun smirked and scratched the back of his head. “So it’s her name…” 

He continued walking and heard a few grunts from a room. He looked at the small opening of the sliding door and found Tidal training alone. The room appeared to look like a traditional Japanese dojo. She’s wielding her sword in front of a pitching machine. The machine shot a ball faster than its usual speed. The machine seems to be modified to some degree to reach that speed.

Despite the speed, Tidal kept calm and swung her sword in a line. Cutting the ball directly in half.

Jun widened his eyes and unconciously clapped his hands, alerting the swordswoman. She immediately dashed towards him, and in a blink, had the tip of her sword pushing slightly against his chest. Jun instinctively put both his hands on the air. “Woah! Time out!”

Tidal realized who it is and sheathed her sword. “Oh, sorry. I got too wary of my surroundings when I’m focused.” She apologized and bowed, which made things a bit awkward for Jun.

Tidal is a very serious and straight-forward woman, even more than Eli, so she’s pretty hard to get along with. But he has been slightly curious about what she does in her spare time and now is a good time to know more about her.

“It’s fine. By the way, this room is surprisingly… Japanese.”

That’s right. The room itself is decorated with multiple caligraphy that spelled out various motivational messages and the entire room is tatami-floored. “Yeah, my parents own a dojo and it sort of rubbed on me.” She chuckled slightly as she wiped off her sweat with a towel. Surprisingly she doesn’t have a problem on sharing her past, maybe because it’s something that she’s not even bothered with.

“So you spend your free time training here?”

“Mm-hmm. The perks of being in a strict family is that their regulations will stick with you for the rest of your life.” Tidal walked towards a sword stand before putting her sword there. “Okay Hashima, can you fight?”

“Huh? Well… barely. I could probably hold my own against one person. But Rin kicked more ass during our escape.” Jun said, rather surprised at her sudden question. He just answered honestly and it gained a nod from Tidal.

“Then I guess you should train more. I would be willing to teach you if you want. As long as it’s martial arts involving melee weapons.”

Jun could feel his confidence slowly being crushed, but Tidal has a point. It would be really convenient if he could at least learn a few moves in martial arts. “I would consi—“

“Don’t you think for self-defense, a gun would be better?”

As if mirroring a dramatic entrance from a manga, Hope came by and leaned on the door frame. Tidal sighed, “I do agree that a gun is a better weapon in this day and age, but it’s pretty ineffective in close-range combat and the sound could potentially alert others around you.”

Hope nodded in acceptance. “True, not even silencers could get rid of a gunshot sound completely.” She then looked towards Jun. “But if you ever found yourself interested in gunplays, you can visit the armory and the range in the basement.” She continued.

“Okay, I’ll consider it.”

Jun left the dojo and made his way towards his new car. He started it up and was greeted by the growl of the engine, something never grow old on him. Just as he was preparing for a joyride, he heard a light knock on his door window. He looked outside and saw Avian.

“Hey, may I come along?”

All right, might as well since he has nothing else to do today.

It wasn’t for anything big. Turns out Avian just wanted to buy some supplies since she’s running out of raw materials for costumes. Surprisingly, the woman has a lot of connections with the stores that they visited and most of them even has secret operations hidden behind the counter.

“I’m sorry for taking up your time.” Avian came back from the store carrying a few bags of materials and stuffed them in the trunk. “Nah, it’s fine. I have nothing to do until Lily finished her research.” Both of them entered the car and drove off.

“Oh, is it about the drones?”

“Yeah. She said that the trackers could lead us to the server location.”

“I guess it’s thanks to your reckless operation.” Avian giggled. “You really angered Honoka. I never saw her that angry before.” She continued.

“Huh, really?” The conversation went silent for a few minutes. “Speaking of her, since when did you know Honoka?” Jun looked at Avian before she smiled and closed her eyes, remembering her past.

“Since… I enrolled in law school. Honoka has been a determined girl in terms of justice, me and Umi—Tidal, just get along since our aspiration is similar to one another.” Avian rested her head on the seat’s headrest. She looked outside as Jun nodded and decided to not push the topic further, preferring to hear it if she wants to tell him instead. Or when Honoka decided to tell him.

* * *

Since waiting for Lily’s search takes a while, Jun decided to visit Honoka in her room to hopefully have a chat and catch-up with one another.

Entering her room, it’s clear that she’s pretty organized. Her desk is neatly tidy and the bookshelves are arranged properly, alphabetically and by its genre. The desk is riddled with paperworks and documents about various things, although most of them are collected data about their previous operations.

Looking at the room, Jun felt that Honoka changed from what she used to be. Either she’s influenced during her time in law school or it’s just her keeping a professional face in front of her colleagues, Jun felt that this room is not what she expected Honoka to be in.

However, Honoka is nowhere to be seen in this room. At least not in this part of the room. The thing is there’s a door that leads somewhere. He realized that there are only one door outside, so whatever room’s on the other side, it only has one entrance. He opened it and it’s not locked, he stepped in and surprised to find Honoka laying on her bed with only her t-shirt and short pants on, watching Netflix in a messy room. Now this room is more like Honoka, thought Jun.

Honoka’s face lit up and she immediately reached towards the remote and turned off her TV. “Knock first!”

Jun laughed. Seeing her like this made it feels that he saw the old Honoka. Part of him is glad that she’s the same as ever.

After calming down, Honoka and Jun sat down with her sitting down on her bed and Jun on a chair. “At least now I know that you haven’t changed that much.”

“Of course. It’s hard to maintain a professional face every time. Sometimes a girl needs her break too.”

“Well, I guess kicking back for a while isn’t a bad thing. You don’t have anything else to do today?” Jun smiled and Honoka moved and laid on her back. “None. I’m waiting on Lily’s update regarding the trackers."

Honoka moved slightly and looked at Jun. “In the meantime, why don’t we just have some fun?” She invited him to sleep besides her, notioning her head towards her side. Jun chuckled before making his way towards the bed. He laid besides her and looked at her face.

The two of them stayed like that for a while, and it seems like something is about to happen but the knocking of the door jolted them back to reality. “Dammit.” Honoka cursed. Jun chuckled and grabbed her waist. “Continue tonight?”

“Promise.”

Both of them went out and collected everyone to meet up in the meeting room.

“Got anything for us, Lily?”

“Yes. We’ve found out the possible location of the server.” Lily said before showing the map in the giant screen. “That’s pretty far from here…” Rin rested her head on her hand.

“Yeah, we’ll need to prepare more for that. Which is why we can’t afford to fuck this up.” Smiley said before sitting down on one of the chairs. “Ahem. We may also need another strategy as I’m afraid that Matryon’s previous strategy will be compromised since they knew your face already.”

They spent the next few hours setting up a strategy, brainstorming various possibilities and strategies and ending up with the one they think best.

_Back in Honoka’s room…_

“You think the plan will work?” Jun asked Honoka who’s still tidying up her desk. “Are you nervous since you’re the key part of it?”

“Yeah… kind of.”

Honoka chuckled, she then walked over to him and gave him a hug from behind. “Don’t worry, we will watch your back, okay?” She said reassuringly. He smiled and hold her hands. “Wanna continue what we did before?”

Honoka blushed slightly before smiling. “I thought you’ll never ask.”

With a swift movement, Jun grabbed her by the waist and kissed her lips. She struggled a bit but relaxed and let Jun support her body. They kissed for a good minute before letting go. “I never know that you’re this aggressive.” Honoka said while licking her lips, enticing Jun as he hold her in a princess carry.

“Guess I changed for the better.”

“And I like it this way.” She said while holding his face with her hand before planting another kiss. They went back to the bed and the night is… history.


End file.
